What bullet train means for Stockton

Californians voted in 2008 to build a gee-whiz system of 200 mph bullet trains darting between the northern state and L.A. High-speed rail then got off to a low-speed start.

Michael Fitzgerald

Californians voted in 2008 to build a gee-whiz system of 200 mph bullet trains darting between the northern state and L.A. High-speed rail then got off to a low-speed start.

Last week, though, the state finally gave the go-ahead to the California High-Speed Rail Authority to buy up the land for the system's first segment, in Fresno and Madera counties.

High-speed rail may not reach Stockton for 10 years. Still, I'm curious just where through Stockton and San Joaquin County the bullet train will pass, and where in Stockton the station will be located.

This is not idle curiosity. The station will be an investment magnet. If downtown, it will be a genesis of revival.

The tracks - well, the tracks are another story.

The High-Speed Rail Authority will now negotiate with Fresno and Madera property owners to buy 356 parcels. If it can't cut deals, the property will be seized through eminent domain.

Lawyers down there smell trouble; observers joke that local attorneys, wanting a piece of the lawsuits, have all become overnight eminent domain experts.

One day, those fights will move up here.

CHSRA maps show two proposed routes. One, a "Stockton bypass," skirts the city to the east. One runs smack through east Stockton. All the way across the city from south to north.

"The (scoping) team concluded that the stakeholders, including the city of Stockton, support a downtown option," CHSRA spokesman Rob Wilcox said.

"It looks like the proposed station site will be in Stockton near the existing station (the Cabral Station for the ACE train), but we do not yet know exactly where," Wilcox added.

That's generally good news for Stockton.

Construction and maintenance mean jobs.

A station near the Cabral Station fits perfectly the Urban Land Institute's strategy for resurrecting downtown by building on successful redevelopment of the Cabral Station.

And there's good logic in linking high-speed rail with ACE and Amtrak, which is why the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission supported the downtown route.

"We have the potential in Stockton of being a train hub for all of Northern California," said former Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston, who sat on the commission.

A downtown station is good news and bad news for residents of the Cabral Station neighborhood.

Good news because a station probably means cafes, shops, possibly new transit-oriented housing, and an appreciation of neighborhood property values.

"Oh, no," another neighborhood resident, Angelica Losa, reeled at that prospect. "My God, I've lived here for 20 years. I like it."

And then there are the tracks. Unless the CHSRA can buy existing tracks, or obtain an easement on them, the high-tech trains' electrified tracks must traverse at least 10 miles of urban Stockton.

The CHSRA aims to minimize the drama by paralleling existing tracks, and by using "below-grade" trenches and elevated roadways where possible.

But there's no getting around it: High-speed rail's alignment will cut a swath through Stockton's industrial belt, business zones and neighborhoods.

That means buying out landowners, or ousting them by eminent domain. That could be a real soap opera.

"We are partners in this effort," said Ben Tripousis, the CHSRA's Northern California regional director. "That's the only way we're going to be successful in this effort. When the time comes, ... we will come in a way that is absolutely respectful of the community."

For the record, I enthusiastically support high-speed rail, if it's not a money hole.

California, over the next 30 years, is projected to grow in population by the entire population of New York state. No sane person would want to encounter such hordes on Interstate 10 or the approach to the Bay Bridge.

Studies say the $2.7 billion in state and federal dough spent on the first Valley segment will generate $8.3 billion to $8.8 billion in GDP - a +300 percent return. Not too shabby (I have posted a couple studies on my blog).

Not to mention the convenience of sailing down to Los Angeles in less than three hours.

Also, I believe such a project is in our DNA as Californians: visionary, high-tech and trend-setting, it should be an expression of the state at its most progressive.